How to Deal
by midnight87
Summary: You just don’t understand," I said in a low, dead, voice. "I’m not afraid of anything because there’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve already faced death, and the truth, and that night, and I’m still here." I turned around and left them all, confused.


_Two men were standing completely still, for fear they'd be shot if they'd move. _

_"Good job Kagome, now just pull the trigger." one coach while the other shook his head. _

_"Don't pull it Kagome, do you want to be know as a killer for the rest of your life?" The man took small steps to the side, the gun following him. "You got me, but put down the gun." He reached a small nightstand where a small rectangular box was, filled with chemicals. _

_"Kagome don't you dare put down the gun, he killed your mother." _

_She shook her head violently. Her eyes dropped from the man to a dead body once known as her mother. In that moment, when her eyes were on her mother, the man lifted the small box, and threw the contents in her eyes. "Ah..." she cried, dropping the gun, and moving her hands to her burning eyes. _

'BANG' _and the man fell. _

_"Should have shot me when you had the chance" the other man taunted. "But then again if you would have danced with me none of this would of have happened." _

_Then _'BANG' _she fell to the floor, but unlike her parents he only got her arm._

I sat up, sweat drenching my face. That's how I wake up most days. But sometimes I get lucky, I just see it, I don't hear a thing. But I don't have to; I know all the words my heart, unfortunately.

"Just a dream." I told myself. But who was I kidding? It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare! Sad part, I can't wake up.

I knew I wasn't at the shrine, I knew I was living with my cousin, I knew it was my fault, I knew my parents were six feet under because of me. Yep, all my fault. And this, this story is about how I dealt with it.

I looked over at the alarm clock next to my bed. It read '5:45'. I threw the covers off me as I let my feet dangle from the edge. I took a minute, before getting up, my feet hitting the cold wood floor beneath me.

If I listened carefully I could hear running water and the clinging of pots and pans. Aya, my aunt, and Kin, my uncle, were usually up at 5:15 to start the day. Crazy if you ask me, but of course no one does. Sango, my cousin, is the only normal one around here.

We used to be best friends in elementary school but then she moved away, sure it was only 10 minutes, but 10 minutes was enough to make her go to a different school. And once school started, I stopped going to her house in the afternoon and she stopped coming to mine. 10 minutes was enough to change our life forever, but that doesn't really surprise me because one dance changed my life (and not for the better) but there will be a time for me to discuss that later in the story. Now I'm trying to explain things.

Sango had these friends, Inuyasha and Miroku (Miroku is her boyfriend too) that she introduced me to on the first day of school. (A week ago)

Miroku was nice, he tried to make me feel welcomed but Inuyasha, he wasn't. He kept insulting me, and of course I insulted him right back (mine were better!) He was kind of cute but who cares. A guy who insults you for no good reason is a total jerk! Then he wondered why I ran off (I didn't run away, I stormed off after saying I wasn't hungry anymore).

Anyway, I'm totally off track now. Oh yeah, I got off the bed, and walked over to my desk. There was a computer, a few books of my own, a few textbooks, pencils, a calculator, and a picture of my mom and dad.

They looked perfect. My mom's beautiful brown hair flowed down to the middle of her back while dad's black hair barely went past his ears. Mom's yellow shirt, designed with flowers around the hem of the shirt clashed with dad's green shirt. But the smiles on their faces were the same: they were happy! I don't know how, but they were happy!

People always said that they were different, too different. Mom was neat while Dad was messy. Mom was organized, Dad wasn't. Mom was lenient but Dad was strict. They were two different people entirely, but they still loved each other, and me, even if I refused to see it.

2 weeks ago, if you showed me that picture and asked what I thought I'd of said: "I see two strangers who fool themselves into thinking they love each other." (On the rare occasion they'd fight, it would be so bad that dad would stay with Uncle Kin and Aunt Aya would go and comfort mom.) But if you asked me now I'd say: "Two people who didn't know their fate."

But who knows, in the end? They thought they'd watch me grow up, have children, get married, graduate. (Not in that order) They thought they'd grow old together. They didn't. But that's for another time.

I gathered my books up into my yellow book back and headed for my closet. See my new school, Ridgewood, has a uniform. But that was ok with me. Avondale had a uniform too, but Ridgewood's' uniform is emotionless! I absolutely despise it. It's a white long sleeve shirt with a green flap and a red tie thing, and a green skirt.

At Avondale, my uniform was a blue skirt, a red button up tank top (the buttons were blue too) and on the back left hand side of the shirt; you could pick an animal and have it sewn in with blue thread. (I had a kitty) I was the student body president and as such I got to design them. (And since we're on the subject, the boy's uniform were blue pants, and a red tank top (no buttons) with the animal on the back.)

But nonetheless, I pulled out the uniform and put it on. I fixed my hair, letting it fall down onto my shoulders. I grabbed my bag and took one final look at the clock. '6:05'. I exited my room and stared at Sango's, right a cross from mine. She usually tried to get me to eat with her and her friends at lunch, but I say no and head to the library. (At Avondale we eat an hour later then I would at Ridgewood) I read, a lot. But you can't blame me for wanting to be anyone else but me!

Anyway, I headed down the steps, and into the kitchen. And what do I find? Aya at the table drinking coffee, reading her horoscope and Kin also at the table, drinking coffee, but he was reading the front page. I said my hellos (to which they replied with a nod of the head and a 'morning' in between sips of coffee.) I reached the door and I'm about to leave when Kin finally puts down the paper and asks, "Where are you going? School doesn't start till 7."

"The bookstore" _'Where I go every morning since my second day here,'_ but I didn't bother saying that. See usually I timed it better. If I left at a certain time, I could leave without a million questions.

I don't know why. I mean last night Sango left right after dinner without so much as an "I'm going..." and then I leave a few minutes after her, and I get hounded with questions. What did they think I was going to do?

"What about school?" I didn't need to turn around to know that Aya put down her paper and was going to start in on the integration too.

"I'm still going." I said about to turn the knob and escape but once again I'm stopped but by Aya. "If you go to the bookstore you'll be late to school."

I took a deep breath, exploding on them would only be a bad thing. "No, I just want to drop of something."

I heard Kin whisper something to Aya before Aya whispered back. I turned the knob, again, opened the door, but stopped when I heard Kin's voice. "Ok, but if you're late to school you're grounded."

I smiled at the word, grounded, but nodded my head and left.

See I was grounded, a lot, when I was with my parents. But the funny thing was, it was never for what I actually did. Like I got grounded for breaking curfew, when in reality I was in jail (that's another thing I'll explain, but not right now, later) or when I had an attitude, but you'd have an attitude too if your belly button still hurt after having it pierced 2 weeks earlier. I put my hand on my stomach, where there should have been a ring, but there wasn't. I'll explain that later too but let's see, where am I now?

Oh yeah, I'm walking to school. It was cold that morning, making me shiver, but I just ignored it the best I could. I just looked at the scenery. It was so pretty. There were trees everywhere, flowers, birds, and squirrels. Back home, there was still a lot of trees, and flowers, birds, and squirrels, but not as many. I missed my old life, I missed going to parties, and dancing, I even missed Hojo.

Hojo was this guy who liked, me but I didn't return his feelings. He brought me flowers and gifts, all the time. But I started feeling bad, leading him on, so I went on a date with him. And at the end of the night, when he tried to kiss me goodnight, I told him that I couldn't kiss him, because he was like the brother I never had. He said he understood, gave me a kiss on the cheek and left, but he still brought me flowers and stuff.

And when word got out about my parents, he was there, by my side, even before I woke up (even before Ken and Aya). I remember, my eyesight was blurry, from the chemicals (I guess I have to explain that too), and once he saw me freaking out (if you were in my position, not knowing where you were after some strange freak was in your house, you would have too) and he explained everything to me. But he didn't have to, by the time he told me where I was, I had remembered everything. But I didn't interrupt him when he explained. I guess I was hoping that I was wrong, or that it had been a dream, it wasn't.

But something I remember very clearly was how he said it. He didn't sound like one of the doctors, with emotion but only to a certain point, not letting themselves get attached, no, he explained it like it was his parents, so full of love and care. He held me while I cried into his shoulder. And he was by my side afterwards. He helped me get back in the house and pack up all my things, and some of my parents, my aunt and uncle did the rest. He was there for me, and I'll always have him in my heart for that, but back to the story.

I forgot about everything as the bookstore came into view. The owners, a very nice old couple, liked me so much that they didn't charge me full price for anything I bought. I don't know why, but I wasn't complaining. And sometimes they gave me cookies, or whatever else they made. See, the bookstore was kind of a house too. They lived upstairs and worked downstairs. I pulled open the door; the bell rang, signaling my arrival.

It was a descent size store. There were bookshelves full of books all along the back wall, and the left wall. On the right was the check out counter and behind it was a door, which lead to a staircase. I walked up to the counter and rang the 'ring for service' bell. The door behind the counter opened and out came, a stout, gray-haired, old woman, Mrs. Osaka.

"Oh hello Kagome" she called cheerfully, as if I had brightened her day.

"Hello Mrs. Osaka" I said, reaching into my bag. I pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. It was a list of books I wanted. She gratefully took it out of my hands and gave a short look to it. See this is what I did. Because I had to be at school and straight home afterwards, I gave her a list of books and I'd just pick them up at the end of the day.

Mrs. Osaka nodded her head and stuck the list on the counter. "I'll have Mr. Osaka get them ready for you. I'm going to the doctors."

I gave her a concerned look but she just waved it away saying that she was just going to have her routine check-up. I gave a sigh of relief, and turned to make my exit. I gave her one last smile, said my good-bye, and left.

_'6:52' shit I'm late' _I thought picking up my pace.

Usually I would have been to school by now but with 20 questions from Kin and Aya and all the small talk with Mrs. Osaka (but mostly the 20 questions), I was behind schedule. I'd still make it on time to 1st period, but better safe then sorry. (If only I knew that 2 weeks ago)

By the time I made it to school it was 7:10, 10 minutes before I was supposed to be in homeroom. I went to my locker, 617, and pulled it open after a little fiddling around with the lock.

The lockers were green, see they alternated from green to white; Avondale's lockers were red and blue.

As soon as I was done getting the things I need for homeroom, history, I headed for the room. I had to climb a flight of stairs, take a right, and walk down another hall, but I made it.

History was the only class I didn't have with Inuyasha, Miroku, or Sango. It goes like this: 1st, history, none. 2nd, study hall, all of them. 3rd, science, Inuyasha. 4th, lunch, all of them. 5th, parenting, Inuyasha. 6th, English, Miroku. 7th, gym, Inuyasha and Sango. 8th, math, Miroku. I really hate my schedule, but hey, what can you do?

As I passed Mr. Waka's desk he called my name. See Mr. Waka was the kind of teacher who believed that his students could do anything, and after he read my file, he was always asking me to answer questions and asked what I thought about different stuff.

I took a deep breath and reluctantly turned to face him.

"I'd like to talk about your test." He showed me my test and I was so thrilled. I got a B-.

See good grades came to me naturally, and if I studied I did worse. My parents always said that I was just too lazy to study, but I wasn't. I swear on their graves, if I studied I did worse. And see since I want to be a doctor, (I'll explain later) I thought I should study. So the fact that I got a B- was amazing!

A smile was etched across my face, but Mr. Waka's statement removed it instantly. "Want to explain to me why you didn't get an A?"

_'Um, because you marked them wrong' _I thought. "I guess I should have studied harder." I tried to remain calm but I almost lost it by his next statement.

"Yes you should have. I would like you to retake the test."

_'Are you out of your mind! Ok Kagome, just remain calm.' _"If I did would you count the higher score?"

He shook his head and looked back down at his stack of papers. "I'll count your next test score even if it's lower. But if you study harder then we won't have to worry about that now will we?"

He looked back up at me, my face back to the way it was before I walked in, calm. I gave him a forced smile, and walked to me seat. It was the fourth seat back in the row closets to the window. And by the time I sat down and took out my things, I could taste my blood, from where I had bitten my tongue so I wouldn't snap at Mr. Waka.

I stared out the window, looking at Sakura trees in the distance. The bell rang, signalizing the beginning of class and Mr. Waka got up and began talking, but I was still gazing at the Sakura trees. _'The blossoms should be falling soon.'_

Winter was almost here. I loved winter but fall had to my favorite season. _'Nothing bad can happen if your laying in a pile of leaves'_ But that wasn't true, and now I knew that. But hey, ignorance is bliss.

"Miss. Higurashi?"

My attention suddenly fell on Mr. Waka, seeing him staring at me only brought the eyes of everyone else to fall upon me, but I was good under pressure, at least I was at my old life, now I was terrified. "Yes?"

Mr. Waka sighed, as if saying he was disappointed with me, "See me after class please." He then went on with whatever it was he was saying, and slowly everyone's eyes went back to him.

_'Oh great, just what I need. Another lecture from Mr. Waka' _But the bell rang right after that, and I realized, I spaced out the entire time. I've never done that. I gathered up my unopened textbook, and my unused pencils, and my untouched paper and put them back in my bag. I walked up to the left side of his desk and waited for him to speak.

He waited for everyone to leave before looking me in the eye, his black staring at my brown (eyes I mean), as if we were in a battle of wills, and I wasn't going to lose. He was the first to blink (told you so) before starting in on what I could tell was going to be a very long lecture.

_'Damn, I should have blinked'_ I thought, though I hid my smile.

"You need to stop spacing out when-"

_'Blah, blah, blah. At this rate I'm going to be late to study hall. But that could be a good thing. Less time with them.'_

"-I know what you're going through is painful but you can't let it effect your grades."

I bit my tongue before I had a chance to yell at him. I knew he was talking about my parents. And the fact that he thought he knew what I was going through pissed me off but then him talking about how I was letting it effect my perfectly fine grades just made it worse.

"Can you give me a pass?" I grounded out. I really wanted to storm out of there but if I didn't have a pass I was screwed because Miss. Kaede was strict. Worse part, she was my science teacher too. He nodded his head and filled out the pass, and handed it to me. I snatched it without even so much as a 'thank you' and stormed out of there.

My pace started to slow, as I got further away from the room. No one was in the halls so I slowed down completely.

_'He has no idea what I'm going through,'_ and truth was, he really didn't. Because at that moment I didn't feel sad or anything, I really couldn't care. I guess you could say I was numb.

I know you're probably thinking, "The girls parents are dead and she doesn't feel anything? What a cold heartless bitch!" but let me correct you now. I'm not sad because I don't deserve them. They were to good to be my parents. As far as I'm concerned, they're better off without me.

I finally reached my locker and I pulled out my book "Stay with me" and put away my history things, even though I should have been studying for my history test tomorrow (again). Then I walked to study hall, as slow as I could. I was super late now, and if I walked in Sango would be asking me all sort of questions. But study hall was just around the corner from my locker so it wasn't long when I got in there.

I walked up to Miss. Kaede and handed her my pass. Then I went to my desk, which was right in front of Miss. Kaede's. But unfortunately Sango sat behind me with Miroku and Inuyasha on either side of her.

"Hey." she whispered in my ear, causing me to slightly jump, when Miss. Kaede wasn't looking. I heard Inuyasha snickering, trying to hold back his laughter. I shot him a glare, and let me tell you, if looks could kill, before turning toward Sango, trying to hide how much I was annoyed. (And apparently I did)

"Where were you?"

"History." I said hoping that would be the end of things, but of course it wasn't.

"Why?"

But before I could answer Miss Kaede cleared her throat, meaning for us to shut-up. (Strike one)

"He wanted to talk to me."

"About what?"

_'Stop being so damn nosy'_ I thought but answered nonetheless. "About my test."

"Ladies." she called again. (Strike two)

"What did you get?"

"B-." And that was finally the end of her questions.

"Kagome." Inuyasha whispered.

_'Oh great, I haven't been here five minutes yet and he's already annoying me'._ So, I did what any normal person with common sense would do: ignore him. But he kept whispering my name and eventually he started throwing little wadded up pieces of paper at me. But I kept reading my book. Until one of the papers hit my eye. I mean, how the hell do you hit someone's eye with a stupid piece of paper the size of a crumb?

"What?" I asked, a little to loudly. But can you blame me?

"Kagome, that's it. Detention." (Strike three)

My jaw instantly dropped, and my glare hardened. But she acted like I was smiling. And from behind me I could hear him failing to hold down his laughs. But did he get in trouble? No! So at the end of the class I went up to Miss. Kaede and got my detention slip. I took it (well more like snatched it) from her and headed for my locker.

3rd period was horrible. Miss. Kaede (who's so totally out to get me) gave us lab partners (for the rest of the year) and she just happened to put Inuyasha and me together!

As usual I was daydreaming but when the person I sat next to moved and Inuyasha took his place I kind of caught on, but by the time I did, it was too late to complain.

4th period, lunch, had been interesting. I was so very pissed and when Sango called my name (as she usually did wanting to know if I wanted to sit with them which I always said no to, except my first day) I just yelled "No thanks." without even stopping my rather fast pace to the library, where I would read for an hour. But it didn't matter, I liked reading.

Ok, now let the story officially begin (I promise to stop talking).

"Damnit, Inuyasha." Sango complained sinking back in her seat. "You just had to mess with her, now she'll never talk to me."

Inuyasha looked over at Sango who was slumped against Miroku. "So, I don't see what the big deal is." he said taking another bite of his turkey sandwich.

"The big deal is that she's my cousin. I mean we used to be really close, then the thing with her parents. And I don't know, she's just not the same."

"How so?" Miroku asked using his free hand that wasn't wrapped around Sango's shoulder to grab a spoonful of peas.

"Well when we were kids she was so, open. When she wanted to do something she did it, and damned anyone who stood in her way, she was, just, invincible, I guess. But now she's just, well isn't."

"Well, her parents did just die. That tends to bring people back to reality." Inuyasha said, taking the last bite of his sandwich.

"Inuyasha has a point you know. Just give her time and I'm sure she'll be back to her old self."

Sango gave up and nodded her head. _'Time...if all you need is time then I'll wait Kagome.' _And that's what they did, well sort of.

Sango still invited me to sit with them (which I always refused), Inuyasha was still Inuyasha, and Miroku would say a 'hi' when we walked past each other in the hallways (and I was polite and said 'hi' right back) and in English and Math he usually woke me out of my stupor.

They continued to wait for at least another week so it was the anniversary. Anniversary of what? The death of my parent's. (I waited a week before going to school after the death, then the week, and then they waited 2 weeks)

Sango seemed to have known that and told the guys to be super nice because I was suppose to me super depressed (or at least that's what she told them) and if my parents had died another way then the way they did I bet I would have, but I wasn't. I felt super guilty.

I mean my parents had been dead for a month because of me. Wouldn't you feel guilty too?

So let's start with first period (Oh and incase you're wondering I got a B- on the test the second time I took it, much to Mr. Waka's disliking. And no I didn't purposely miss the same questions that I did on my first test just to piss him off. Ok, so maybe I did.).

I was sitting at my desk waiting for class to start when Mr. Waka once again called me up to his desk. He once again showed me the results of my test. It was a really hard test, there were like 50 questions and they all had to be answered in at least 3 paragraphs (which is like 150 paragraphs but he gave us two days to work on it), and when I saw a C on the front I was ecstatic! Because at the time I thought I failed it for sure, but there was a C on the top.

"I would like you to retake this."

_'I bet you would buddy but there's no way in hell.' _"Why?"

He looked at me as if I was crazy before showing me the test (and actually pointing to the big red C, as if I didn't see it before). "Kagome, what's better than a C?"

"An A and a B."

"Exactly, I want you to aim for one of those. I know you can do it. Just put your mind to it"

_'Yeah, because that's all it takes. 'Hey, Mr. Waka, I want to be a genie.' 'Well all you have to do is put your mind to it.' _I thought sarcastically. "Mr. Waka, what's worse than a C?"

He looked at me like 'do you really expect me to answer that?' but he nonetheless said "D and F."

"Exactly, I aimed for an A, B, or a C. And I got it. So, no, I'm not retaking this test."

He looked at me as if I had a 2nd head. But I mean that test was practically an exam. And I didn't see why he wanted to change all my tests, one time I was even tempted to ask him if he wanted my grades better why he didn't just put an A+ on the top but stopped my self because I really didn't want another lecture.

"Well, Kagome, I really think you should."

"Mr. Waka, that test was really, really hard! I'm lucky to have gotten that good of a score. But I'm not willing to test my luck again."

"Kagome it has nothing to do with luck. It all about what you know."

"I'm sorry Mr. Waka, but I'm not retaking the test." And then the bell rang.

I turned around and headed for my desk, noticing all eyes were on me as everyone else was already seated. (Don't they have a life?)

He started his lesson and I stared out the window, but no matter what I was thinking about it always came back to me standing by my parents graves, dressed in all black. (I'll explain later) And before I knew it the hour was gone and I was off to second period.

Mr. Waka must have wanted to continue our little 'chat' but I was out the door before he was able to say something. I was in Study hall reading my book when I heard laughter enter through the door. I knew it was Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku so I didn't look up.

But as soon as they saw me they all stopped laughing, but I still didn't look up. They went to their seats, silently, and all looked at me with concerned looks, I could practically feel them burning holes in me. And so finally I couldn't take it anymore.

I turned around and looked at them and asked, "Is something wrong?" They all hastily shook their heads and looked elsewhere but I continued on anyway. "Because you guys seem to find the back of my head very interesting for some reason."

Sango grew enough courage to look me square in the face. "Are you alright?"

I took a moment to consider my response. _'I could be all like: No, my parents are dead for crying out loud. Or I could be all like: Never better. Or I can go in the middle and be all: Peachy.' _

I settled for Peachy. And once I said it her eyes filled with more concern (as did the boys who were watching) and I regretted it. _'Should have gone with Never better' _

"Listen Kagome, I know you shot the idea down, but, why don't you go and get some therapy?"

And I lost it, or I would have if I hadn't bit my tongue (which really hurts by the way). "Because I don't need it." I said turning in my seat ending the conversation. Well, hoping it would but of course it didn't.

"But it'll help you." Miroku added but it only made me bite my tongue harder.

"No it won't."

"Kagome, Sango told us your dad was a therapist, so if that's why…" but I stopped listening after I heard the word dad.

A smile graced its presents (not a big one just a small one, the kind you get when you finally figured out some hard question) on my face as I whirled around to face them. "Is that why you think I don't want therapy?"

They all looked rather confused but eventually nodded their heads yes.

Ok, remember I said I'd explain the parent thing later (or maybe I meant to say it but I didn't get around to it) well anyway, I'm explaining now. So listen up, big part of the story.

My parents were very successful people and wanted me to be successful as well. My dad was a therapist and my mom was a lawyer. They wanted me to be a doctor, but I always said that I'd never be a doctor (I'm mean would you really want to say "I'm sorry but he didn't make." to someone you haven't met before in your entire life and don't get me started with the whole, veins, ivy, injections, they totally gross me out.) because I wanted to be a photographer.

They never liked the idea, in fact they hated it, but they bought all the things I needed to take and develop pictures. (Hint: read my dream again, go on, I'll wait.) But now they're six feet under, ok maybe not 6 feet but pretty damn close, in the shrine's backyard. (Not my parent's, the camera stuff)

I just felt like, when I buried my parents earlier that day, I buried a piece of me to. The wild piece. And while I was looking down at the grave as everyone else was leaving or shaking hands, I realized that I wanted to be their kid, the kid they would have said they were proud of, even if they couldn't say it. So I decided to become a doctor.

But I realized, as I was back at the shrine gathering my things, that I couldn't do that if I still had the cameras. So I buried that part of me to. So the only part left (after burying the love, desire, hope, dreams and my wild side) was my goal. See I took the deaths of my parents as signs, but I'll explain that later on. If I told you now you wouldn't understand.

But the first day of school the principal, Mrs. Rau, had asked me if I was having some form of therapy. I told her I wasn't and she insisted that I go to the school counselor at the very least. She said that she thought it was the best thing for me. But I snapped (after this event I started biting my tongue) and asked how a total stranger could know what's best for me? I told her that I knew what was best for me and for her to mind her own damn business (I even said damn).

Then she looked me in the eye (probably would have slapped me if I wasn't a student) and said that she would not be talked to in that manner and that I was right, she didn't know me but she thought I should have therapy of some sort.

We went on arguing about therapy and she gave up saying that I had a 3 weeks, and if my teachers said I was ok, then I wouldn't need therapy. Guess what today is. But that'll come later today, for now, back to the story.

_'I just don't need therapy. It has nothing to do with dad.'_ I thought turning around, the smile on my face. They just assumed that's why I didn't want therapy, they didn't even ask me. I took another deep breath, removed my smile, and turned to face them, with a serious looking face.

"I don't need therapy. Ok. It's just that simple. I-DON'T-NEED-THERAPY." I said, as if speaking to a child. And that was actually that because class started and I'd be damned if I got another detention.

And that was my morning, nothing else happened, just the same old same old. So let's skip to seventh period.

(All right back to me not talking)

Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku, were standing in Mrs. Rau's office, along with Kin and Aya, and all the teachers (leaving their classes unattended. Very, very smart). The three kids were standing the closets to Mrs. Rau's desk then anyone, then Kin and Aya, then the teachers.

"So you're saying that Kagome's-"

"Kagome's, Kagome." Inuyasha said getting pissed. He knew what they wanted. They wanted them to say that Kagome needed therapy but after second period he didn't.

"Well does she socialize well with people?"

They took a moment to think how to get out of this but soon found no way. "She keeps to herself." was the best Miroku could think of.

Miroku and Sango thought that Kagome needed therapy leaving only Inuyasha to defend her. But that didn't mean that Miroku wasn't going to try and help out Inuyasha, he was basically the one in the middle.

Mrs. Rau was getting tired of this little game, Kagome needed therapy and that was that. The teachers had already said that she daydreamed too much and that she never seemed to talk to anyone. Kin and Aya said that she was always cooped up in her room. It was only these kids who were on Kagome's side.

"Crazy idea," Inuyasha said in a sarcastic way. "But how about you just believe Kagome when she says that she doesn't need therapy?"

"Because she's a traumatized girl who's in denial." Mrs. Rau snapped. "I made my decision," she said standing straighter. "And Kagome will in deed have therapy."

Mrs. Rau used the intercom to call Kagome to her office. It took a few minutes, having to change and walk all the way down here, but when I entered I looked like everything was normal.

(Ok, I'm not going to talk in third person anymore, way to confusing)

"Yes?" I was slightly surprised to see Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku, but I didn't let it show.

"Kagome, I have thought long and hard and have decided that you need to have therapy."

There was a second of silence, everyone staring at me, waiting for me to react but I stayed calm, for the time being. "What's my favorite color?"

Mrs. Rau looked startled but quickly caught herself. "I don't know, blue?"

"No, pink."

"What's my favorite number?"

"Now how on earth-"

"3. What's my favorite-"

"Why are you asking these silly questions?" she demanded.

And when I answered I did my best to look stunned. "Why, I just thought that when you said that you thought 'long and hard' that meant you had to know something about me to make a reasonable decision."

"I know that you went through was a lot and that you keeping it to yourself is bad."

"What am I keeping to myself?"

"What happened the night your parents died. How you felt."

I could tell she was getting uncomfortable but I continued on. "What happened the night my parents died? How did I feel?"

Mrs. Rau was looking around the room for help but I continued.

"Oh that's right. You don't know." I started walking around everyone in the room, looking at them as if they were guilty for some awful crime. "You just assumed. Assumed that you knew what was going through my head. Assumed that I need help. You never once bothered to ask me, anything for that matter."

I stopped facing Mrs. Rau dead in the eye. "You just thought. Well, you thought wrong. And I'm not having therapy."

Then this man sitting in the corner of the room (I hadn't even noticed him) stood up and walked up behind me stopping a few feet away.

"Kagome, My name's Myoga. I'm the school's therapist." He waited for my response and when he didn't get one he continued. "I think-"

I whirled around to face him, slightly losing my cool but not all that much. "Weren't you listening? I don't give a damn what you think."

He looked taken aback before I slowly turned back to face Mrs. Rau. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go back to class."

And I was about to leave when Mrs. Rau said, in a strict manner, "Kagome, your guardians signed a consent form saying that you are to have therapy."

I stopped; I really hadn't been planning on that. "And if you don't go then we'll have no choice but to suspend you and if you still refuse you'll be expelled."

"Good." I said, my back still facing them. "I'll go back to Avondale."

"That's not an option," Kin said in his masculine voice.

_'Shit!'_ "What the hells wrong with you?" I yelled turning back on Mrs. Rau (I lost it). _'This is it, my last hope.' _I thought. "Why do you really care if I have therapy or not?"

Mrs. Rau sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, as if _I_ was giving _her_ a headache. "Kagome, your teachers, guardians, and friends have-"

"Friends? Who?" _'Friends? I don't have any friends here and no one from Avondale would ever say that I need therapy.' _

Mrs. Rau gave a wave of her hand toward Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku.

_'After I told them...'_ I felt betrayed. Sure, they weren't really my friends but there were pretty damn close (I don't like get to close to people anymore) so for them to say 'Yep, Kagome's crazy' really hurt. Especially after I told them in study hall I was fine.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked. I was surprised that he cussed, I mean, I knew he cussed but I wasn't expecting him to cuss in front of the teachers, not to mention the principal. "We've been telling you that she doesn't need therapy." Miroku and Sango nodded their head so I felt better.

They hadn't said I was crazy! Great, 3 people think I'm sane.

"You kids be quiet." She hissed. She turned back to face me and started going on about how 'Therapy would make everything better.' and 'If I just gave it a chance.' Then Myoga started saying something about his program.

I stormed out of the room, not listening to whatever Mrs. Rau and Myoga were telling me. It was just too much, and on today too. And I kept walking, and walking, and walking, until I reached my locker. I pulled it open and stuffed everything inside. My books, my bag, my homework...everything. Then I stormed out of the school.

I kept walking until my eyes fell upon the big, rusty gates of the cemetery. I took a deep breath, pushed aside the gate, and walked forward. I kept walking on a small brick path until I came on the opposite side of the cemetery. I looked down, and there they were...my parent's. I've only been here once before, on the funeral, but today seemed like a good day.

"Hi..." I said, sitting down on the grass in between the two tombstones, dad on my left mom on my right. "You still mad at me for going to the party?"

Of course my question was answered with silence but I felt like they were actually listening.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone, and if I hadn't . . . But let's not think about that. They think I'm crazy." I said, rubbing away the tears that formed in my eyes.

"Yeah, they want me to take therapy. And yes, I should me in 8th period but, screw it." (I muttered an 'sorry for my language mom' because she obliviously wasn't going to. Oh, my mom didn't even like me saying 'shoot'. She said it wasn't lady-like.)

"The worst part, I think they might me right. I keep having these weird dreams, nightmares, and they just won't stop. What should I do dad?"

I waited for an answer but all I got was a breeze in the wind, hitting me square on the face. I sighed, got up, and brushed the dirt of me. I looked down at their graves and my heart stopped. "I'm sorry I killed you guys, I really am." I said and walked away before tears rolled down my cheeks. (I'll explain the whole 'killing' thing to you guys later) As soon as I walked out of the cemetery and back on the sidewalk, another tear slid down my cheek.

(Ok so now I'm walking, and as interesting as that is we're going to go back to Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha! Which means third person.)

The final bell had finally rang, and the kids were leaving the classes. Sango walked to her locker, with nothing on her mind but Kagome. She opened up her green locker and put her books inside just to pull other books out.

"Hey," Miroku said, leaning against a white locker next to Sango.

Sango nodded her head, but didn't look at him. _'She's really mad. I hope she's ok. Where did she go? She needs therapy, doesn't she? Oh I just hope she doesn't hate me.' _

Inuyasha joined them as they were walking down the hall, and they walked in silence, the same thing on all their minds. They walked to Miroku's car. The drive was silent.

"What do you think will happen?" Sango asked quietly.

"Only time will tell." Miroku said as they pulled up in Sango's driveway.

(Ok. So they're home but now we're going to Mrs. Rau and Myoga)

"So, what do you think?" Mrs. Rau asked, sitting on her comfy red chair behind her desk.

Myoga looked up from the file he was reading (my file) and gazed at Mrs. Rau. "From what I can tell she's was a good student and daughter. Through therapy she should be back to her old self in no time, but..." he trailed off, looking as if he was deep in thought.

"But..."

"But, she was dead set on not having therapy. She looked pretty determined, and she's very smart. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't react to the therapy."

Mrs. Rau's looked a little worried, "But you've had patients do that before right? I mean you'll find a way to get her to talk, right?"

"Well, yes, usually I can find a way. But like I said, she's very determined and smart, she might not respond at all. She really thinks that she doesn't need therapy and she's going to stick to it. Even if she's wrong."

Mrs. Rau took what he said to heart. _'Your giving her to much credit. She's just some stupid kid. She's in denial.' _

"And did you see the way she had you going, everybody for that matter. Her father was the best of the best. I'm not surprised that she had you questioning yourself."

"Well then, I suggest that you find a way."

Myoga nodded, though he didn't really like her tone. He got out of the chair opposite Mrs. Rau's desk and walked out the door. _'Kagome's going to be one tough cookie'_

(Hear that? I'm a tough cookie. I've always wondered what kind of cookie I was, and now I know. Anyway, let's go back to me)

I was lying on my bed, in my pajamas, even though it was 5, at the latest. I just didn't feel like doing anything. I was to tired to move, to pissed off to think, to lazy to care. I just didn't want to be alive. Scary.

I rolled over on my side with a sigh. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. Maybe if I slept, it would all be over. I'd wake up and realize it was a nightmare. Everything.

I'd wake up at the shrine, I'd go downstairs for breakfast and I'd see mom cooking the worst pancakes I'd of ever eaten and dad at the table drinking the blackest cup of coffee known to man saying things like 'Serves him right' to the newspaper.

I'd sit at the table and say good morning. They'd reply with an 'I hope you slept well', and I'd say I did. Then dad would say something to the newspaper again then ask me what I thought but I'd just say 'yep' because I was to preoccupied with my horoscope and the comics. Mom would place the pancakes on the table and with one look at them I'd say that I wasn't hungry and leave to find something to do.

Yeah, right, who was I kidding? I'd fall asleep and wake up to know that I still have problems to take care of and knowing that they were dead. But hey, a girl can dream.

So I laid there, eyes closed, waiting for sleep to overcome me, and I didn't have to wait long.

(Back to Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku).

Everyone sat on the living room floor doing their homework, though it was mostly only Miroku. After he was done Inuyasha and Sango would copy the answer. But only a few of them.

"Hey, Miroku, If I had 245 pears and I wanted to divide them between 5 people how would I show that in algebraic form?" Inuyasha asked looking on Miroku's paper.

_'Two men were standing completely still, for fear they'd be shot if they'd move.' _

"I don't know Inuyasha, I'm not there yet." Miroku said.

"Well get there." Inuyasha said with a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, and Miroku. To find density you..."

_"Good job Kagome, now just pull the trigger." one coach while the other shook his head.' _

"Mass divided by volume. And if anyone would care to know, I'm not working on Math or science, I'm doing history."

_"Don't pull it Kagome, do you want to be know as a killer for the rest of your life?" _

Inuyasha reached inside his red backpack and pulled out his history book. "Here," he said handing Miroku his completed worksheet. "And I'll take this." he said taking Miroku's Math.

_'The man took small steps to the side, the gun following him.' _

"What about me?" Sango cried.

"Here." Miroku said handing her his science book.

"Thanks." Sango said taking it with open arms.

_"You got me, but put down the gun." _

"Hey, did we have anything in English?" Inuyasha asked, flipping over the back of the worksheet.

_'He reached a small nightstand where a small rectangular box was, filled with chemicals.' _

"No, all we did was read." Miroku said handing him back his History.

_"Kagome don't you dare put down the gun, he killed your mother." _

"Ok, so let's see. Math." Sango said.

_'She shook her head violently.' _

"Done." Inuyasha replied, closing his book.

_'Her eyes dropped from the man to the dead body once known as her mother.' _

"Me too." Miroku added.

"Good, so we all have Math done." Sango said as she continued to write.

_' In that moment, when her eyes were on her mother, the man lifted the small box, and threw the contents in her eyes.' _

"History?"

"Yep," The two boys replied.

_"Ah..." she cried, dropping the gun, and moving her hands to her burning eyes.' _

Sango nodded her head to show that she was done too. "And science." she said closing the book.

BANG' _and the man fell.' _

"Done." they said together.

_"Should have shot me when you had the chance" the other man taunted.' _

"So all homework is done, mom and dad are on the business trip, and the weekend officially begins."

_'But then again if you would have danced with me none of this would of have happened."_

"What to do?"

_'Then _'BANG' _she fell to the floor, but unlike her parents he only got her arm.'_

Then a scream was heard, piercing the air.

I sat up, sweat drenching down my face. I closed my eyes, to calm my racing heart and to get all the pictures out of my mind like always do. But they wouldn't leave. Not even when I opened them, and my heart didn't stop racing.

"Just a dream." I kept saying but it didn't matter. Because I knew.

"KAGOME!" I heard someone yell my name. I heard footsteps pounding up the steps and then my door swung open with so much force. And all I could do was sit there, wondering what the hell was happening.

_'Am I still dreaming?' _I wondered as Inuyasha and Miroku came running into my room with Sango on their heels.

"What's wrong?" she asked. I don't know if it was because I wasn't sure what the hell was going on or if it was because I thought I was dreaming but I told her as the guys were looking around the room expecting to find a serial killer. "I had a bad dream."

Inuyasha and Miroku visibly relaxed, knowing I wasn't being raped or killed or whatever but Sango looked even more worried. She walked over to me and put her arms around me tightly. For a second I was shocked, I even considered pushing her away, but I didn't. I hugged her back and buried my head in her shoulder.

_'I'm not going to cry.' _I told myself, holding back my tears. But Inuyasha, being half-demon, must of smelt the scent of my tears and said, "It's ok to cry." And that's when the tears slid down my face.

I didn't need his permission to cry, I just…it was knowing that no matter what I did or where I was or who I was my past was going to catch up with me.

"It's ok." Sango said as she rubbed my back.

_'No, it's not. I'm in way over my head.' _

"What was the dream about?" Miroku asked as he came to sit beside me.

Now, I might have been...emotional, but there was no way I was telling them my dream. "I can't remember." I lied as I sat up, rubbing away the tears.

_'Oh god, I was crying. What am I, a baby?' _

I thought as Sango pulled me back into a hug. _'But is that such a bad thing? Maybe I've been too much of an adult. Maybe if I tell them they can help.' _

"Please Kagome, we want to know. We want to help you."

I opened my mouth, I was going to tell them and they were going to help. Everything would go back to normal and I wouldn't have nightmares, it'd be perfect. But then a memory came back to me. A memory of my past. I was dancing in a club with my friends. And that's all I needed to remind me why I was the way I was.

"I'm fine." I muttered getting up and walking out of the door. I needed air, I needed...I needed...I needed my mommy. Yes, ok, I said it. I, Kagome Higurashi, need my mommy. Sue me.

I walked out of the house and down the walk. It was freezing. Especially when you are dress in pajamas, don't have a coat, or socks, or shoes. So there I was, walking, freezing, and considering that maybe I do need therapy.

The wind picked up and blew my black hair over my face. The wind was making it colder and I swear, right then, burning in hell wouldn't be so bad. All the flames, I'd never be cold. But then, I realized what I thought and then thought, _'Yep, I'm crazy. Send me off to therapy.' _

I didn't know where I was going, but I had to keep walking. And I did, I kept walking until my feet were numb. Then I headed back. I just needed to get over it.

So I made a mistake, everyone does. Though, mine cost my parent's lives. And then I made another mistake that would have them looking at me funny all the time (you know, me crying in front of them). And, yeah, I think that was all the mistakes so far.

I walked in the house; Inuyasha and Miroku were watching a black and white movie like 'Frankenstein' or something scary like that. (Although, I've never actually watched that movie.) And Sango was in the kitchen cooking something. Then I looked at the time. It was 7:00pm.

_'How can it be 7?' _I thought looking behind me at the door. _'It's already dark and it's freezing.' _

Then I remembered it was fall, and that's what happens in fall. "Hey Kagome, you wanna watch 'Casablanca' with us?" Inuyasha yelled out of the living room.

"N-" but I stopped. Did I really want to be alone? "Sure."

I walked in the living room and sat down on the couch by him. Sango walked in with two huge plastic bowls of popcorn and sat beside Miroku, who was leaning against the couch under me. She handed a bowl up for Inuyasha and me to share and she shared with Miroku.

"I'm freezing." I said as I snuggled deeper into the couch for warmth.

"Go change into something warm." Inuyasha said in a what's-so-hard-about-that kind of way.

I rolled my eyes and lazily got up. I slowly walked up the steps and into my room. I changed into a pair of gray sweat pants and a black spaghetti strap. I had pink slippers over my white socks so my feet wouldn't get cold. I marched back down to the living room and saw that everyone had waited for me. And I kind of felt bad because I took so long.

But apparently it was all in my head. Sango smiled warmly at me, Miroku nodded his head, wanting me to sit on the couch, and Inuyasha, well he was being Inuyasha and was eating the popcorn. I got back on the couch and got comfortable.

Sango started the movie and we were watching 'Casablanca' or something like that.

_'What had Inuyasha called it?' _I was pretty sure it was Casablanca. Everything was just really hard to follow. I couldn't tell you the main character's name to save my life. But that didn't matter. I was so engrossed in the story. (Does that make any sense?)

There were a few times when mine and Inuyasha's hand touched reaching for popcorn, but unlike in the movies, we'd mutter a sorry, moved our hands, and got more popcorn a minute later, without looking at each other. How romantic.

It was 11:37pm when we were done thanks to all the pausing and rewinding, but we were finally done with the movie. Inuyasha and I were a sleep, I was leaning my head on his shoulder and his arm was wrapped around my waist. The blanket covered us as we lay, dreaming about, stuff.

Sango and Miroku were sleeping in a chair. They moved sometime in the movie and it ended up Sango lying on Miroku's lap. It was good, everything was good.

Maybe I was wrong, maybe I can't run from my past, but maybe, just maybe, I can hide from it.

(Now as cute as I am while I'm sleeping let's skip that part and start with morning.)

"Inuyasha shut up, you're going to wake her up." Sango hissed, taking another bite of her cereal. Inuyasha just rolled his eyes and watched me while he took another bite of his cereal.

"Why are we watching her again?" Miroku whispered.

"Because she's laying on the remote and Sango doesn't want to wake her up." Inuyasha answered.

Miroku nodded his head, though he much rather be watching Saturday morning cartoons.

They started whispering (very loudly) about what they thought about me, after having spending a night hanging out with me. And let me tell you I was very well behaved. Sango thought I was pretty cool. Miroku said I was funny (I might have made a few remarks here and there). And Inuyasha thought I was ok.

Now see, I woke up at like the beginning of this conversation thanks to Inuyasha's talking. So to put it simply I was eavesdropping. I smiled, a small smile, and rolled over so my back was facing them. I guess I was just happy that someone liked me, despite what happened to my parents.

_'But they don't it was your fault.' _I thought, depressed. I bit my lip, sad, mad, worried, and sighed, a small sigh, before sitting up and looking at them. "Hey?" I said, lightly.

Miroku and Inuyasha replied with a "Hi," but Sango looked at me, as if she was looking through me. I gave them a small smile and walked out of the room.

"Kagome," Sango said, stopping me, as I was about to climb the stairs. "We're all going to hang out today, want to come?"

I shook my head and said, "No thanks," But that seemed to be the wrong answer.

"Kagome Higurashi, I've given you so much time and space and you act as if you don't care. What's wrong with you?" Sango asked, hotly.

I was about to reply, just as angrily when I realized that I had no right to be mad. _'After all everything is always my fault.' _I thought dryly. So instead I answered, "I'm sorry Sango. I'm just still upset about my parents' deaths." A sweet little answer that makes me sound like the good little girl I wasn't.

And I was about to climb up the stairs when Sango said, "Bull Shit, Kagome, you don't give a damn about them. You're just trying to get everyone's sympathy because you just have to be the center of attention."

I stopped, mid step, and let out a dry sigh. I heard Inuyasha and Miroku try to stop Sango from saying what she said, but she already said it. And boy was I pissed. _'But you've worked so hard.' _I reminded myself. _'Don't blow it now.' _

So I simply said, "Don't mess with me Sango. You have no idea what your doing." _'I have the power to kill people.' _I thought, joking. Bad joke, but hell would freeze over before I do exactly what she wanted me to do.

"Damn it Kagome, stop acting as if you're all high and mighty. Truth is you're just a scared girl who's to stuck up to ask for help."

I laughed. "Me, afraid? You must be crazy!" I said, turning around and looking her in the face. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"What a liar!" she yelled, waving her hands in the air. "You're afraid of-" But I didn't let her finish.

Instead I cut her off be saying, "Of what? The police? Nope, sorry to tell you, I've already dealt with them. Heights? Sorry, but that kind of become obvious when I jumped off that bridge." I was pissed, she was pissed, and Inuyasha and Miroku were nervous.

"Your afraid of the truth, of death, what happened." Sango said in a calmer voice. And it hit me like a ton of bricks.

"You just don't understand," I said in a low, dead, voice. "I'm not afraid of anything because there's nothing to be afraid of. I've already faced death, and the truth, and that night, and I'm still here." I turned around and left them all, confused.

_'Of course they wouldn't understand what I mean,' _I thought sadly as I climbed the stairs. _'They don't even know what the truth is.' _

I opened my door and slammed it close behind me, liking the noise it made. I felt horrible, and tired, and I just wanted to be left alone.

(Back downstairs with them)

Sango just stood there, ticked, and no one dared to say a word. What was there to say? After a few minutes of silence Sango stomped up the stairs, jerked her door open, and slammed it shut.

Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other in the silence of the living room. "Some morning." Inuyasha said in a whisper. Miroku nodded his head wordlessly.

"So what do we do?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku sighed before turning to Inuyasha. "You take Kagome and I'll take Sango. Who knows, maybe they'll be talking again by the end of the day."

Inuyasha nodded, but he doubted that they would be talking again.

Inuyasha followed Miroku up the stairs. Miroku walked into Sango's room but Inuyasha hesitated outside Kagome's. What was he going to say? What was she going to do? He was about to knock when I appeared at the door.

(Ok, back to me telling the story)

Inuyasha opened his mouth, wordlessly, and looked at me. I was dressed in pants and a red spaghetti strap with a black jacket on over top.

"I was just heading out." I said, feeling nervous for some reason.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

I shrugged my shoulder and stepped further out of my room to shut the door. We walked silently down the stairs and I waited patiently as he slipped on his shoes. After that we walked out into the cold morning air, him having gotten dressed while I was still asleep.

We walked silently down the sidewalk for a while, just walking aimlessly around, before he asked, "Where are we going?"

I looked at him, before looking back down at the sidewalk. "No where I guess."

Inuyasha smiled, took my hand, and started leading me down another sidewalk. "I know where we can go."

I followed him, excited. As much as I hated to say it, I needed something exciting, even if it turned out to be the worst thing in the world, my life was just so boring, and I'd take what I could get. I walked a bit faster so I was walking beside him and we continued to walk, hand in hand, the cold wind hitting our faces.

We walked for a while, quietly, until we came to a beautiful park. There were swings, sand boxes, jungle gyms, teeter-totters, and tire swings. There were trees to sit under to be shaded from the sun. And there was a fountain in the center of the park with statues of butterflies and birds at the top, where the water was shooting out of, and fish at the bottom, getting rained on.

"It's absolutely perfect." I said in a whisper, but I knew he heard me.

"My mom used to take me here. Then I grew up. But I still come here sometimes. It's cool to watch the sun rise and set on that hill over there." He said, pointing to a far off hill. I nodded and walked over to a swing.

I sat down and Inuyasha sat down on the swing beside me. We sat quietly on the swings, kicking our legs back and forth against the cold hard ground.

"Sango didn't mean what she said." Inuyasha said suddenly.

I smiled a small, sad, smile and turned to look at him. "Yeah, she did. But I don't care."

He looked at me concerned; and it kind of annoyed me. "I'm fine, really!" I exclaimed, mad.

He just smiled and looked back at the ground beneath his feet. "No, your not. But that's ok because you will be one day."

I looked at him, as if trying to study everything about him. "The Inuyasha I know would never say something so…smart, like that. What's up with you?"

Inuyasha shrugged and smiled. "I guess you don't know me as well as you think you do."

I giggled and shook my head. "I guess I don't."

He smiled, and it kind of made me weak at the knees, even though I was sitting down. I shrugged of the feeling and sat quietly, beside him. He didn't say a word, and neither did I. We were just enjoying the moment while it lasted.

(Ok, now over to Sango and Miroku)

Sango lied on her bed while Miroku sat on her chair that was next to her bed.

"You shouldn't have said those things to her," Miroku scolded. "She was making progress then you scared her away."

Sango shook her head and sat up. "No, she wasn't Miroku. She's to involved in feeling sorry for herself that she doesn't even realize that I'm trying to help her. I've given her time to grieve and move on, or at the very least I've given her enough time for her to trust me."

Miroku shook his head, disagreeing with everything she was saying. "Kagome lost her parents Sango. She was there the night they died. She saw it happen. It's been a little more then a month, and last night, when she hung out with us, she was saying that she was trying to move on. Then you belittled her and now she's probably lost everything that she was trying to rebuild. Friends, family, trust…"

Sango looked down at her blue bedspread and sighed. Had she really done that? _'I was just frustrated, I didn't mean to erase all she's accomplish.' _Sango looked back up at Miroku, feeling totally empty.

"I'm a jerk." She said, quietly. Miroku smiled.

"Yeah, you're a jerk. But you're the cutest jerk I've ever seen."

Sango gave a small smile, and wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her head on his shoulders. Miroku smiled, lovingly, and rubbed small circles on her back.

"Think Kagome will forgive me?" Sango asked, talking into his shirt.

"I'm sure she will."

(We're going to skip ahead 30 minutes)

I walked into the door, laughing, with Inuyasha behind me. "Me falling is not funny!" he snapped.

"Oh yes, it was." I said in between laughs.

I took off my shoes and turned around to see Sango standing in front of the steps, looking at her shoes. "Kagome, I wanted to apologize for this morning. I was just being impatient because I missed my cousin, I'm really sorry. Do you think you'd ever forgive me?"

Shocked, I was shocked. Sure it had been a long time since I'd actually knew Sango but when I did I knew that she was very stubborn, much like me. I took a deep breath and thought,

_'If I don't forgive her now I'll never here the end of how sorry she is. Plus she'd be trying to make up for it.' _So I said, "Sure."

She snapped her eyes and looked at me as if I just told her that she won the lottery. "Really? Ok thanks Kagome." She said, running over and wrapping her arms around me.

"No problem." I said, patting her back. She let go of me, and then looked at Inuyasha behind me.

"Where did you two go?" she asked.

Inuyasha shrugged and answered, "To the park."

Sango nodded before shrugging and walking into the kitchen. "Kagome are you hungry?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"If you are I can make you something."

"I'm not hungry and I don't plan to be the next time you ask." I called.

Inuyasha snickered and Miroku rolled his eyes. Sango came back out with 4 cups of coco and sent me a playful glare. "Oh so very funny."

I took a cup and sipped the hot substance. "Well I thought so."

Sango rolled her eyes and walked into the living room. I followed and so did the boys. Sango started closing all the curtains, making the room darkish. "It's to cold to go out," Sango said, grabbing blankets from a chest. "So we'll stay inside and watch movies."

In truth it was cold, but not so cold that we couldn't go outside for a little while, but I decided not to argue with her. Movies didn't sound so bad.

_'As long as I don't get attached or reveal anything I don't see the harm.' _

We ended up watching boring classic black and white movies all weekend. It started to snow, and the roads got icy, so Inuyasha and Miroku called their parents and told them that they'd be staying over at Sango's till Monday. Then Kin and Aya called and said that the airports are closed because of all the bad weather so they wouldn't be home until Tuesday, if the weather cleared up. So we had possibly the best weekend of my new life. But then Monday came, and as always, I came crashing back to reality.

I was sitting in Myoga's office, not saying a word, as he droned on about how if I just talked about it I'd feel better.

_'Blah, blah, blah, blah…I wonder what I'm having for lunch?' _

"Kagome!" I snapped my head toward him, and was surprised when I saw he was angry. "Pay attention. I'm trying to help you!"

Then I smiled, brazenly. "You're not supposed to yell at your patients." I said, loving the way his face turned red.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he closed it again. "You're right, I'm sorry." He said in a sigh.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked back out the window. He sat back down in his chair and we sat in silence for a minute before he said, "You may go back to Study Hall Kagome."

I looked at him, smiled, and took the pass he was holding out. _'I beat them!' _I thought happily as I walked away from Myoga's office and toward the Study Hall room. _'They finally gave up. And this was only the first session.' _

I walked into the room and handed a confused Kaede my pass and took my seat. I knew Sango was dying to ask me why I was back in study hall, but after the first fiasco she didn't. I opened up a book and read for 25 minutes before the bell rang.

"What are you doing back?" she asked, as soon as the bell had stopped.

"He let me go." I said easily.

"Why?"

I shrugged, threw my backpack over my shoulder and turned to look at her. "He just let me go." I said, walking out the door, Sango, Inuyasha, and Miroku following after me.

Sango and Miroku turned down a different hallway, leaving Inuyasha and I alone to walk to science. "So, does this mean you don't ever have to go back to Myoga's?" he asked as we entered.

"I don't know." I said, taking my seat at the back of the class. Inuyasha took his seat by mine and we sat quietly as class started.

(Skipping to gym)

I got a bad feeling when I realized that Sango and Inuyasha weren't in class and that the gym teacher was gone, leaving the kids unsupervised. I got an even worse feeling when Mrs. Rau called my name over the intercom to come to her office. I quickly changed and gathered my things.

_'This is going to be bad.'_ I thought, walking down the hall towards her office.

(Ok, pause this and now we're going to Mrs. Rau's office)

Inuyasha stood beside Miroku and Sango, pissed. It was the same as last time, and he didn't like it at all. Sango stood quietly, burning holes in the carpet. Miroku stood, tapping his feet against the carpet, annoyed. Behind them were the teachers and standing in front of all of them was Mrs. Rau and Myoga.

"She already went through her therapy session so why can't you just leave her alone?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Hold your tongue." Mrs. Rau snapped back.

Today was just not a good day for her. Not only did she have to deal with this she also had to deal with the plumbing in the boys' bathrooms and she had to get a new assistant.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, but he stood quietly. Then, I entered the room, and my gut dropped when I saw that I was screwed. _'Now I'll probably be sent to some crazy hospital.' _I thought, feeling oddly nervous.

"What is it this time?" I asked, pushing my fears down.

"Shush!" Mrs. Rau snapped. I raised my eyebrows, surprised. She was already pissed, and I hadn't even said 6 words. "Listen to me young lady," she said, spitting out very word with venom. "You will start taking your therapy seriously. You will stop daydreaming in class. And you will hold your tongue when in the presence of an adult. Is that understood?"

I looked at her, and I kind of felt…nervous. But not scared! I'm not afraid of anything! I looked at her, speechless, and I must have looked scared (even though I wasn't!) because she smirked and turned back around to walk to her desk.

Her smirk knocked me out of daze and it pissed me off. And to tell you the truth, I hadn't been that mad since, ever. It was just…the fact that she thought she scared me made her happy pissed me off.

"Listen here you old witch!" I said, taking a few steps toward her back. "You will not tell me how to react to therapy. You will not tell me when or where to daydream. You will not treat me like a dumb little kid. And you will mind your own damn business!"

She turned and faced me and her face looked red, possibly even redder then mine. Out of the corner of my eye I saw everyone's mouth drop open and their eyes grow wide as they watched us. We must have looked crazy, two red face women glaring at each other the way we were.

(Now, you're probably thinking I was crazy and that I must have been scared. But I wasn't. I felt good. Great even! I used to do that kind of stuff back in my other life all the time. When an adult who thought they knew it all got in my face I got in theirs. So, if anything, I was feeling relieved. Oh and let me tell you, not biting my tongue felt so good!)

I waited for her to say something, anything, but she didn't. She just glared at me, and I knew that she wanted to slap me, but she couldn't, not with all the witnesses anyway.

"This is my school Kagome," she said, using my first name. She spoke in a cold voice. "And you will abide by my rules. So once again, you will react to therapy, you will not daydream in class, and show the adults in this building some respect."

I must admit, she had composed herself nicely, but I couldn't just leave it at that now could I? So…I might have said something back. "Are you growing deaf in your old age woman? Listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth!"

(You're probably all saying _'Shut up Kagome! Shut up Kagome! Shut up Kagome!' _but if you honestly thought I would then you are really stupid)

"I don't want some old witch going around telling me what to do when she doesn't even know me!" I yelled. I mean yelled! It echoed!

Now that might have been where I went to far. But can you blame me? "You stupid, spoiled, little brat!" she yelled, whirling around at me. "How stupid are you? Was it the way your mother raised you or are you just naturally stupid?"

I heard gasps and out of the corner of my eye I saw Sango's eyes, full of rage, and Inuyasha's fists clench and unclench. Miroku looked at Mrs. Rau with disgust. And the teachers looked appalled.

I guess talking about the way my mother raised me made all of them mad, but not me. But that was because I taught myself how to act and I was proud, that or stupid. (But if Koga heard that he would have knocked her out, he's tough like that.)

"I'm trying to help you! You are a scared, lonely, depress-" "

I'm not scared!" I yelled.

I didn't care what she said or what she was going to say. All I cared about was the fact that she thought I was scared.

"Of course you are! I mean you saw your-"

"My parents get shot? Yes, I know. I was there! I'm not scared!"

She looked frustrated, like _I_ was giving _her_ a headache.

"What kind of uncaring freak isn't scared of the one thing that took her parent's lives?" she asked with disgust.

"The kind that know the whole story!" I yelled. (Now when I say yelled I really mean yelled!) "What kind of heartless bitch makes a 16-year-old re-live her parent's deaths?"

Mrs. Rau looked out-raged. She actually stepped up, right to my face, and swung her hand back.

I didn't cringe, or move, even when I saw the hand coming toward me. I just closed my eyes and waited for the cold hard slap. But it didn't come, and I must admit, I was happy. Getting slapped never was enjoyable for me.

Anyway, I saw Inuyasha holding Mrs. Rau's hand inches away from my face.

"What kind of cold heartless bitch attempts to slap a 16-year-old girl?" I asked, loving the way her face turned different shades of purple.

I stepped back and was about to walk out the door when she yelled, "You're scared Kagome Higurashi. You and I both know it. I'm the only one brave enough to admit it."

I froze. I didn't turn around and yell a mean come back or deny it, I just walked out the door, as soon as my legs started working again. I walked past my locker and right out the door, not grabbing anything, not even caring. All I could think about was what Mrs. Rau said.

(Back to Inuyasha and the others)

Mrs. Rau snatched her hand from Inuyasha's and looked around at the room.

"Dismissed!" she called. No one moved as they watched her.

"Mr. Yuga will have to be called." Mrs. Kaede said calmly, Mr. Yuga being Mrs. Rau's boss.

"Dismissed!" she yelled.

Teachers started heading towards the door but was stopped by Inuyasha's voice. "That's it? She almost slapped Kagome, not to mention all the cruel things she said to her. And that's all your going to do, follow her commands like cowards."

"Inuyasha-" Miroku said, trying to get his friend to shut up, but Inuyasha acted as if he didn't hear him.

"We'll have to call Mr. Yuga but she didn't touch Kagome. All we can do is-" Mr. Waka began but Sango cut him off.

"My cousin has been doing great! She's been acting like herself again and then you drag her in here and make her feel horrible. Then all you're going to do is call someone? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Sango!" Mrs. Kaede said but Mrs. Rau was the one who spoke next.

"That little bitch deserved what she got. She's a spoiled rotten brat and when mommy and daddy died she lost her means of money. As far as I'm concerned she can rot in hell. I'm done helping her."

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Mrs. Rau.

"Maybe she didn't need your help." Miroku said wisely.

Mrs. Rau's mouth fell open an inch and she glared at him. But before she could say another word he walked out of the room, taking Sango and Inuyasha with him. The teachers left right after them, not a word spoken, just glares at the principal.

Then it was just Myoga and Mrs. Rau left.

Myoga walked in front of her and placed Kagome's file on her desk. "I cracked the cookie." He said.

Mrs. Rau lifted her head and Myoga could see that there was even a bit of smirk on her face.

"And I must say, I feel rather stupid because-" he paused, and took a deep breath.

Mrs. Rau looked at him, anxious. She won! That was all that mattered. Kagome had taken therapy and Myoga figured out what the problem was. She had lost the battle but she had won the war!

"There was nothing needing cracked." He smiled a big smile and walked out, leaving wide-eyed and disbelieving Mrs. Rau behind.

Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were filled with a dubious look. Kagome…didn't need…therapy? She went through all that…for nothing? She had lost the battle and the war?

Kagome Mrs. Rau

2 0

She started hyperventilating. The breathing then had a bit of laugh added on to it. The laugh grew until it sounded like she was a mad woman. She started to shake her head and looked down at her desk and at Kagome's file.

She picked it up and flipped through the folder. She threw it into the air, letting the papers fall in front of her desk, as she continued to laugh.

(I always thought she was crazy. Oh, and I'm not going to brag about how I was right, saying that I didn't need therapy. Even though I was right. Anyway, back to me.)

I walked down the sidewalk toward the graveyard. It was snowing. Even as light as it was, there was already an inch of snow on the ground. But it was going to get a lot worse very soon.

I've always loved the snow. But like I said before, nothing beats lying in a pile of leaves.

I had already stopped at the house, grabbing a blanket and a jacket, stuffing it into a bag, and there I was, walking to the graveyard. I opened the gates and continued my walk. I stopped as I came to their graves and I sat down in between them.

"I'm not scared." I said to them, but I was really saying it to myself. "I don't care what Rau says, I'm not afraid of anything."

_'Right? The reason I wasn't doing what I used to do was because I made the promise to them, not because I'm afraid. Right?'_

I thought, trying desperately to reassure myself that I wasn't scared. But I couldn't. I shook my head, snow falling off of my black hair and matching into the white ground beneath me.

I took a deep breath and looked up into the sky. There was absolutely no way I, Kagome Higurashi, was scared.

_'I'll prove it.' _I thought to myself, but I didn't move. If I didn't prove it to myself then I'd spend the rest of my life wondering what the truth really was.

"I'm sorry you guys but I have to do what I have to do. Haunt me if you must but I have to." I said, pushing myself up.

Doing what I wanted to do meant walking back home. Not Sango's home, my home. A 5-minute walk from the graveyard, but then I'd need another 5 minutes to get to my destination.

So I took a deep breath, looked down at my parents, and walked off toward the gates again. I was going to prove to everyone, and myself, that I wasn't afraid of anything, even if it was the last thing I ever did, which it very well could be.

(Back to the others)

Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango all piled into Miroku's car.

The teachers released everyone early, not wanting to deal with them. Mr. Yuga was being called and there wouldn't be any school tomorrow. They were supposed to deal with Mrs. Rau tomorrow, so there wasn't school until Wednesday. And there was an emergency staff meeting, requesting all teachers, even the ones that weren't in the office, to go to the teachers lounge. Then the teachers would also have to go back to school the next day, needing to hear what Mr. Yuga had to say.

Miroku pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards Sango's house. They never went to his or Inuyasha's house because their parents were always busy and Sango's were cooler. Not that there parent's mind. They see them mostly every morning and every night. So what if there was a huge gap in the middle? They had a good system and they were sticking to it.

Miroku pulled up into the drive way and they all got out of the car.

"Kagome." Sango yelled as they walked into the house. Sango walked into the kitchen and started to make hot chocolate and the guys went into the living room.

"Kagome?" she yelled again, carrying in four cups of cocoa. She passed them out and called my name one more time, "Kagome?"

She waited a few seconds before walking upstairs and knocking on my door. "Hey, you in there?" she asked, opening the door a crack.

When she saw I wasn't in there she opened the door up wider and looked around. She went running down the steps and into the living room.

"She's not there." She said.

Inuyasha and Miroku looked over at her. "Where is she?"

"I don't know, last time she was just here. Now she's not. And it's freezing out there. We have to go find her."

"Now Sango-" Miroku started, but Inuyasha was already up.

"You two look around here, I'm going to take the car and look around her hometown."

"Aren't you guys overreacting?" Miroku asked. "I'm sure she just went out to clear her head. We should at least give her an hour before we go all around town looking for her."

Inuyasha and Sango looked at him as if he were mad and he realized that he lost. _'How did this happen?' _he thought to himself as he got on his coat and shoes. _'A few weeks ago one of them would want one thing and the other would want something totally different and I'd get stuck in the middle. Now the team up and I get dragged out into the cold.' _

It's not that he wasn't worried about me, but he was sure that I'd be back in a bit. Inuyasha got in the car and drove off while Sango and Miroku walked down the street.

(Back to me)

I took a deep breath, watching it come out into a cloud. I was there. At the bridge. It was an old bridge out in the forest that no body ever used. It was the last real crazy thing I did before I got grounded. Then I snuck out to the party and we all know what the party lead to (Well I hope so at least.)

I stood a few feet away from the bridge and let the memory overcome me.

_'There I was, holding hands with my best friends. Koga, Shippo, Ayame, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka. We were sitting on the cold wet ground, looking up at the stars. _

_"We should do something fun," Ayame said. _

_"No, we should do something crazy," Shippo corrected. _

_I smiled and asked, "Like what?" _

_"It's Koga's turn to pick something." Eri said. _

_"No, I picked last time." _

_"How about we all try to come up with something?" Ayame suggested, looking around for something. _

_Everyone started looking around the ground and at the trees but I was still looking up at the sky, trying to memorize each star. _

_"There's nothing to do out in the woods." Yuka said, sighing. _

_"Sure there is," Ayame said, still looking. _

_"Oh yeah? Like what? All I see is trees, stars, and a bridge. What are we going to do Ayame, jump off?" _

_Koga snickered at Yuka's sarcastic idea. Everyone nodded their heads, agreeing with Yuka, and looked back up at the stars. _

_"That's exactly what we'll do." Ayame said, getting up. _

_"Are you crazy, we'll kill ourselves." Shippo exclaimed, trying to pull Ayame back down. _

_"Stop being over dramatic. The bridge is only 7 feet off the ground and the water is deep, so we won't hit the bottom. It'll be like jumping into a swimming pool." _

_"Ayame, you are crazy." Eri said. "C-R-A-Z-Y" _

_"We'll let Kagome decide." Ayame said. _

_I looked down at everyone and at the bridge. I took a moment before getting up and put my arm around Ayame's shoulder. "I suppose I wouldn't mind a little dip." _

_Koga sighed and got up. Shippo bit his lip but got up anyway. Ayumi looked terrified but held her hand up for Koga to take. Eri rolled her eyes and got up. Yuka looked hesitant and looked at the bridge. _

_"Come on Yuka, we'll all be together." I said gently. Yuka nodded and I helped her up, but she still looked scared. _

_We all climbed on the edge of the railing. We held hands as we looked down. _

_"Ready?" Ayame asked, sounding a bit fearful. Everyone nodded their heads and we started to count. "…1…2…" _

_"Do now, regret later." I said as they chanted three and we jumped into the water below.' _

I stood there, watching the bridge, frozen to my spot, as the snow continued to fall. I carefully walked to the edge and looked down.

The water wasn't frozen, not even close, but it did look cold. I sighed and walked back to where I started and sat down on the ground.

I took the blanket out of the bag and laid it on the ground so I was sitting on it. Then I stared at the bridge, trying to gather my courage, all the while, the memory running through my head.

(Ok, back to Sango and Miroku)

Sango and Miroku were walking hand in hand down the sidewalk. They were going to stop at stores and parks but a lot of stores were closed and the park gates were closed.

It was just a…weird day. It was only 4:00pm and already everything was closed, and the sky looked really dark, and it was really cold.

"I have the feeling that your parents aren't going to be home tomorrow." Miroku said. Sango sighed and nodded.

"Sango I'm sure Kagome's already home. And if she isn't then Inuyasha will find her. So how about we go get some take out, movies, and go home and get ready for their arrival?"

Sango nodded sadly. She really only wanted to know where her cousin was. But maybe she was already home. Or maybe Inuyasha had already found her. Either way they weren't accomplishing anything standing out in the cold, especially when it's snowing.

(Over to Inuyasha)

Inuyasha drove down the road, looking on the sidewalk for footprints. No one would be out in the snow that was this cold so there was a good chance the footprints' could be Kagome's.

He stopped the car, as he smelled a slight trace of her scent. He hadn't been able to smell anything because the snow, being frozen water, was covering it up. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and saw that there were footprints running down a path that led into the woods.

_'What's she doing in there?' _he wondered as he walked down the path. He kept following Kagome's footsteps until he came to an opening, and sitting on a blanket, was me.

"Kagome?" he said, walking over to me. He sat down beside me on the blanket and looked me in the face. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing. Let's get you back home before you catch a cold or something worse."

I shook my head and took my eyes off the bridge. "I can't. I have to prove that I'm not afraid." I looked back at the bridge. "I have to jump."

"Are you crazy! You'll kill yourself."

I smiled, remembering Shippo saying the exact same thing. "No I won't. The bridge isn't that high off the ground and the water's deep. It's like…jumping into a swimming pool."

"The waster is freezing. What makes you think you'll be able to swim?"

"Nothing, but that's the point. Not knowing but doing it anyway. I used to do that all the time."

"I'm not letting you jump." He said, shaking his head.

"Too late." I said, standing up. "I'm going to." I started to take off my jacket when he grabbed my wrist.

"Please, Kagome, don't do it." He begged.

I smiled and cupped his cheek. "I have to Inuyasha. I'm sorry."

Surprisingly he let go of my wrist and I finished pulling off my jacket, but when I turned around to look at him we was pulling off his jacket too. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm going too." I smiled but shook my head.

"No Inuyasha I-"

"Hey, if you're gong to do this so am I." He said, taking off his shoes but leaving on his socks.

I bit my lip and looked at him. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and continued. I pulled off my shoes and held out my hand. He looked at it, took it, and started walking over to the bridge. He climbed up on the edge and helped me up.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked, looking down.

"No." I said, looking down at the water. The snow fell onto the water top and then dissolved into water. "But I'm going to do it anyway."

Inuyasha nodded and took hold of my hand. "You sure."

"As sure as I'm going to get." I said. But I wasn't. I was scared. Really, really, terrified. I could feel tears sting my eyes. I really was scared. There was no denying it. I wanted to get off the bridge and run back home and forget about everything. I shook my head, trying to stay calm. I had to do this. Get over this fear. If I didn't another part of me would die. And I had a good feeling that part would be my sanity.

"Okay." He said, trying to calm himself down.

"Okay." I said, nodding my head.

"…1…2…"

"Do n-now…regret l-later" I said, stuttering as he hesitantly said three.

We jumped and a moment later a rush of cold water overpowered us. I opened my eyes and watched the little fish still left swam around me, how my hair flew around my face in the water, how beautiful the water looked, and then Inuyasha.

He had his eyes opened, but he was looking at me. I smiled the best I could, being underwater, and I swam up toward the surface. As soon as I reached it I gasped for air and started looking around for Inuyasha.

He popped up right beside me and started gasping too. I smiled and started to shiver. I could see that his lips were blue, and assumed mine were too, and his hair and clothes were sticking to him, just like mine.

Under the water was a lot warmer then above, I can tell you that. But I also felt, better. But I felt a lot worse too. I had made a lot of mistakes over the last month, and I had to fix them.

"You scared?" he asked. I shook my head and smiled.

"L-let's g-get out, I'm c-cold." I said, stuttering.

He nodded and started swimming towards the edge. I followed after him, glad the current wasn't strong. As soon as we got back to my blanket I wrapped it up and shoved it back in my bag and put my jacket back on. Inuyasha had his on and his shoes on when I was finished with mine, and we walked back to Miroku's car.

We weren't saying a word. I was thinking about what I had to do and about what I just did. I was still scared. Not of doing something, but I was scared of my friend's reactions. And maybe I was scared of something else.

But I faced my fear. Sure I had a few more to face. But at least I was getting back to normal. We got in the car and Inuyasha started the heater. "As soon as we get back go change."

I nodded and looked out the window as he started to drive the opposite way he was going a few minutes ago. "Thanks," I said quietly. "For jumping with me."

"No problem." He said.

"I made a lot of mistakes lately and I need to fix them." I said.

"I'm here if you need me." He said, taking his eyes off the road long enough to look at me.

I nodded and smiled. So once again I was wrong. You can't run from your past, and you can't hide. You have to face it head on.

(Over to Sango and Miroku)

Sango and Miroku sat on the couch watching the 5 o'clock news, snuggled up on the couch. There were 5 un-opened boxes of pizza on the coffee table. They had gotten the food but the movie store was closed so they decided to just watch TV.

Miroku flipped the channel until it landed on the cooking station.

"Miroku you said Kagome would be home. Where is she?" Sango asked.

Miroku sighed and looked at his girlfriend. "Now Sango, how should I know? Just be patient."

Just then a car pulled up and Sango heard two, two!, car doors shut. She gave Miroku a kiss on the cheek and ran over to the door. She stood in front, waiting for the door to open. As soon as it did and she saw me she threw her arms around me.

"Oh Kagome, I was so worried. Why are you wet?" Sango asked.

I sighed and pushed Sango back a bit. "I fell."

Sango nodded but looked at me up and down. When Inuyasha walked in the door, soaking wet, she asked, with a smile, "What, did you fall too?"

Miroku snickered, I rolled my eyes and walked past her to my room, trying to hide the small blush on my face, and Inuyasha looked at her with a glare.

"Funny." he said, walking past her and up to the spare room.

As soon as I closed the door I walked over to my closet and picked out black sweats and a red sweater. I also picked out a dragonfly belly button ring and put it in. As soon as I changed out of all my wet clothes and into my dry new ones I walked over to my closet and dragged out a box.

I looked down at the box lovingly before lifting it up and carrying it out of the room. I brought it downstairs and sat down on the couch. "What's in the box?" Sango asked, opening the first box of pizza and taking a bite.

"My past." I said.

She and Miroku stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I didn't say anything else; I just sat on the couch, waiting for Inuyasha to come before I started to say anything. As soon as he came in wearing a gray sweater and pants he sat down beside Sango and Miroku and looked at me.

(Remember at the beginning at of the story I said I'd explain the whole belly button and jail thing. Well, that's what I'm about to do so pay attention)

"Ok, for the last month I've been making mistake after mistake. And now I'm going to fix it. But before I do I think you should know the real Kagome. Because she's the one you'll be seeing from now on."

I waited for someone to interrupt but they didn't so I continued. "Well I have these friends. Koga, Ayame, Shippo, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka. We used to do everything together. Well…we did outrageous things. For example-" I lifted up my shirt, just enough for them to see my belly button ring.

"I got this done with Ayumi when I turned 15." There mouths fell open and I knew there was no turning back now. I dug through the box and pulled out a crown.

"I won this for winning a dance competition a few hours later that day at Spades. Spades is a club. We used to go there every chance we got. I'm not an alcoholic or anything, but I had drinks. But I knew when to stop."

They still didn't say anything and it was starting to scare me. But I had to keep going because if I stopped then I was running again and that's not me.

"One day Ayame and I went for a ride through the country and we were stopped by a deputy for driving without a license. He took us to the station and it was really small. He was the only one there and there was only one cell. We knew that if our parent's found out about this I was screwed so we gave him fake names and when I got to use the phone I called Taro. He's the manager of Spades and he's usually the bartender. So I had him come, pretend he was our dad, and drag us home."

And the list kept going. I told them about the time when Eri knocked over shot bottles and the guy was going to make her pay for them. But she didn't have money so we made a deal. We'd see who could drink more shots, him, or me and if I won we didn't owe anything. If he won we'd owe double. I ended up winning, drinking 57 shots to his 55. (I left out the part where I threw up, a lot. And how wasted I was. I couldn't even walk.)

And about the time we spent the night in a graveyard on Friday the 13th and how when the graveyard keeper came out and started yelling we thought it was a ghost or a zombie and how we yelled and started running away screaming.

And about the time when we jumped off the bridge (but I didn't mention the event that night.)

But that was just the start. We did so much more and I explained as much as I could to them, wanting them to know the real me.

As soon as I was done I took out a photo album and handed it to them.

"Those are all pictures of me and them. There's a picture of me in jail, a picture of all of us together. There's even a picture of the camera I took all the pictures with."

They flipped through the book, silently and I sat, watching them, nervously. I don't know how or when but I really liked Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha so if they called me names or if they stopped liking me, I'd be devastated.

"Well?" I asked, hesitantly, as they closed the book. "Do you hate me?"

Sango looked up at me with confused eyes. "What made you stop?" she asked.

I closed my eyes. The truth. Only 6 people in the whole world knew it. Koga. Ayame. Shippo. Ayumi. Eri. Yuka.

I hadn't told Hojo, not wanting him to think the worst about me. I knew that my friends wouldn't, and they hadn't.

Koga and Shippo immediately hugged me as tears rolled down my face. Ayumi and Ayame hugged me as tears rolled down their faces. Yuka and Eri came up last, tears in their eyes that wouldn't fall.

I didn't know how they would take the truth, I didn't even know how they handled my past, but I wasn't running anymore.

"It's a long story." I said sighing. "It goes like this: _'I was sitting on the living room couch at 1 in the morning in dry clothes. I had gotten home without my parent's seeing that I had been in soaking clothes but as soon as I got done changing into dry pajamas there was a pounding sound at my door and my dad called, "Get down stairs now." Then stomped away. _

_I sighed, put my hair in a loose bun, hoping it'd make my hair look less wet, and went downstairs. So there I was, getting lectured at about breaking curfew, even though I was only 60 minutes late. _

_"You are grounded!" my mother said. _

_"A week?" I asked, not caring. I'd still go out, I'd just be sure to do it in the dead of night. _

_"Yes. You should be grateful. You know not to break curfew." My father scolded. _

_I tried not to roll my eyes and nodded. "Yes, I'm sorry. I just lost track of time. In a week's time, I'll do better." _

_My parent's nodded their heads, and walked back up the stair to their room. If it wasn't 1 in the morning and if they didn't have to get up in 4 hours then they never would have let me off that easy but as it was they did. _

_So I went upstairs, climbed under my nice warm covers, and fell asleep. _

_The next day I was in the basement, developing my pictures and talking to Ayame on the phone. There was a huge party at Spades that night and Ayame wanted me to go. _

_"Just ask them if you can go shopping with me Kagome. I'm sure they're let you go. And if not, sneak out." _

_"Ayame there's no way they'd let me go but I'll ask. And if not I guess I'll have to sneak out." _

_"Good. For a minute there I thought you weren't going to go." _

_"Are you crazy? I wouldn't miss it for the world." _

_"Ok, meet you tonight." _

_"Bye" I hung up, left my newly developed pictures in there and took a tray of chemicals up stairs so I could add more chemicals. _

_"Hey mom," I said, passing her in the hallway outside my door. I put the tray on the stand and said, "Can I go out with Ayame tonight? She's going shopping." _

_"No," the woman said easily. _

_"Oh come on, please?" _

_"Kagome no. You know you're grounded." _

_"Come on mom. Stop treating me like a baby. I'll be back in time for curfew."_

_"No Kagome, now stop asking." _

_"Come on mom, it's the sale of the year." _

_"Damn it Kagome I said no." _

_"Would you stop being such a stick in the mud?" I yelled. _

_"Kagome Higurashi, don't talk to me like that." _

_"Then don't cuss at me." _

_"Go to your room!"_

_"Gladly!" I stomped off, leaving my chemicals on the stand, ignoring my mom's protests to take it in my room. _

_That night I snuck out and had a blast at Spades. Then, while I was dancing with my friends, this guy, in his 20's, walks up to me. He started flirting with me and I flirted back. _

_Then he asked to buy me a drink. So we're sitting in a booth and I'm drinking a margarita. I finish it and that's the last drink I can have. I have a limit and that was the last drink before pushing that limit. _

_One more drink shouldn't do anything, neither should two, but I like being careful. _

_"Would you like another drink?" the guy, Onigumo, asked. _

_"No thanks. I'm done for tonight." I said. _

_"Come on, one more." He said. _

_He got up and went back to the bar and got another margarita. He set the margarita down in front of me and sat back down. _

_"Drink up," he said, drunk. _

_"No thanks." _

_"Oh come on baby, just one more." _

_"I'll tell you what. If I drink this then you have to leave me alone."_

_So I drained the glass and looked at him. "Bye." I said. He looked confused then mad. _

_He raised his hand to slap me and I simply closed by eyes, not cringing or anything because I knew it wouldn't come. And sure enough when I opened my eyes Koga had a hold of Onigumo's wrist, Shippo had his other wrist. _

_"It's not nice to hit a lady." Koga said, punching the guy in the jaw. _

_Onigumo went flying backwards and Shippo came over to me. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, gently, but there was still that trace of roughness that he had shown toward Onigumo. _

_"No. Thanks you guys." I said. _

_"Come on Kagome, dance with me, I love you!" Onigumo wailed from where he was lying on the floor but he didn't get up. _

_Koga and Shippo led me away and to the others. We said good-bye to Taro and left. _

_When I got back my parent's were standing in the front hall and looking pissed. "What the hell were you doing Kagome? It's 12:30 and you're grounded." _

_"I went out." I said, not thinking clearly. _

_"Damn it, what's gotten into you?" _

_"I just went to Sp-end some time with Ayame." I said, realizing that I almost said Spades. "She needed a friend and you wouldn't let me go when I asked." _

_"Because you're grounded. You aren't going anywhere for the next month. How did you get out?" _

_"I flew out." I yelled. "And what do you mean month? I helped a friend." _

_"She's going through a phase." Dad said wisely. _

_"Stop treating me like a patient dad, I'm your daughter, not some crazy person from work." I said, stomping up the stairs. _

_I heard them sigh and say something before going to their own rooms, thinking that they'd deal with me in the morning. I went to sleep, glad. _

_For a second I thought they were going to realize that I was drinking. But instead they thought I was helping a friend and that I needed more attention and less evaluation. So all in all, it could be worse. _

_I was a sleep when suddenly I heard a bang and a scream. I sat up and looked around. I heard noises out in the hallway so I went to check it out. _

_When I got there mom was on the floor, dead, surrounded by a pool of her own blood and dad was struggling with a drunk Onigumo for the gun. _

_"Dad?" I said. My heart was pounding and my legs were weak. My heart ached for my mom and I wanted to puke. _

_"Kagome." Onigumo slurred. _

_The gun was knocked out of his hands by dad but it slid across the floor to my feet. I looked down at it, paralyzed and looked back up to see Onigumo and dad fighting. I reached down with shaking hands and grabbed the gun. _

_"S-stop moving. B-both of you." I said, steadying the gun as best I could. _

_They both stopped, standing completely still, for fear they'd get shot if they moved. Onigumo seemed to come out of his drunken state and looked at the gun and me. _

_"Good job Kagome, now just pull the trigger." Dad coached. _

_"Don't pull it Kagome, do you want to be know as a killer for the rest of your life?" Onigumo asked, taking small steps to the side, the gun following his very step. _

_"You got me, but put down the gun." He reached a small nightstand where a small rectangular box was, filled with chemicals. _

_"Kagome don't you dare put down the gun, he killed your mother." _

_I shook my head violently. My eyes dropped from Onigumo to the dead body once known as my mother. _

_In the moment my eyes were down Onigumo grabbed the box of chemicals and threw them in my eyes. _

_"Ah..." I cried, dropping the gun, and moving my hands to my burning eyes. Onigumo dove for the gun as did dad, but Onigumo got it first and didn't hesitate in shooting dad. _

_'BANG' and dad fell to the ground. _

_"Should have shot me when you had the chance." He taunted. "But then again if you would have just danced with me, none of this would have happened." _

_Then 'BANG' and I was shot, but un-like my parent's I was shot in the arm. _

_Even though it wasn't enough it kill me it was enough to knock me out as I fell and hit my head." _

Tears were forming in my eyes but they didn't fall. Everyone was quiet as I finished my story. I waited for them to say something, anything. I needed to hear someone's voice. But I didn't hear one.

The tears rolled down my cheeks and my heart dropped. I closed my eyes and let the silent tears run down my face. Then suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around my body. I opened my eyes and saw a gray sweater.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around Inuyasha's shoulders. Then I felt two more pairs of arms wrap around me and smiled. I knew I could count on them. And now, I was half way done.

(The next day at 7:30am)

I grabbed a pair of blue jeans and a blue tank top and put my black jacket on over top. I went downstairs and saw that everyone was dressed and waiting. I smiled and called, "Come on, we got to hurry."

They nodded and piled into Miroku's car. We drove back to my old neighborhood and stopped at the Café. I ordered 11 hot chocolates. Then I carried them to the car (with help from Sango) and drove off to Avondale.

I got out of the car with one hot chocolate at 7:45 and walked into the building. I walked down to the library and at the back table was Hojo. I smiled and walked over to him.

He looked up as I set the hot chocolate in front of him and smiled a huge smile as he saw it was me. "Kagome!" he said, getting up and hugging me.

"Hi Hojo." I said. Usually I would have pulled away from his hug, not wanting to give him the wrong idea, but this time I hugged him back just as hard. I really missed him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as he finally let me go.

"Taking care of some business." I said. "I just wanted to stop by and say hi but I have to go." Hojo looked sad but there was still a smile on his face.

"All right. I'll see you later."

I nodded and took out a pen. "Here," I said, writing on his notebook. "Call me sometime so we can catch up."

He smiled and nodded and kissed me on the cheek. I smiled, waved goodbye and walked off. Not before getting a good mental image of him first.

He was still a bit taller then me. And he still had silky brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes. He was wearing the winter uniform. The only addition to the winter uniform was the blue jacket they got with their name stitched in on the back with red letters. I was happy to see that the school had kept my uniform idea.

It was 7:48am and I had to get back out front before the others got there. When I got back outside Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango were all sitting on the steps, the 10 hot chocolates in between them, though they were drinking theirs.

"Finally." Inuyasha sighed, impatiently. (I smiled, glad that I got the impatient hanyou back. I like him more then the all knowing one.)

I sat on a step in front of theirs and waited. As soon as I got settled I heard laughter and when I looked up I saw them.

Ayame was hanging onto Koga and laughing. Her red hair flowing freely through the wind. Koga was smirking and hitting Shippo. Koga's hair was tied back into a ponytail and his other arm was wrapped around Ayame's waist. Shippo was laughing too. He was a little smaller then Koga but only by an inch. His orange hair was the way it always was, pulled back into a ponytail.

Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi were all talking about something. Eri's black hair stood out from Yuka and Ayumi's brown hair but they were the same height. (Oh and incase you're wondering Koga and Ayame are wolf demons. Shippo is a fox demon. Eri, Ayumi, and Yuka are humans.)

I took a deep breath and stood up. I saw that Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha were still sitting down and that my friends still hadn't noticed my presence. They were a few feet away and still hadn't noticed me so I said, "Well fine, this is the last time I visit you guys."

Shippo looked up and his smiled vanished. Then it came back and he ran ahead of the others.

"Kagome!" he said, wrapping his arms around my waist and spinning me up in the air. The others looked up as Shippo ran off and came charging at me too. As soon as Shippo put me back on the ground I was tackled.

"What are you doing here?" Ayame asked as she hugged me.

"Yeah, I thought you were starting over." Eri said, looking me up and down.

"I changed my mind. I missed you guys to much."

Yuka giggled, Eri and Ayumi hugged me harder, Koga accused me of being in trouble, Ayame scolded Koga, and Shippo asked who I was and what I did with the real Kagome.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." I said, getting out of their clutches. "But seriously I have some people I want you guys to meet."

They all followed my gaze to Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha. The three stood up and I walked over to them. "This is Sango, my cousin. This is Miroku, her boyfriend. And this is Inuyasha. They're my friends."

They all said hi and were polite (even Inuyasha and Koga). Ayumi, Eri, Yuka and Sango started talking about me. Koga, Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo started to talk about how I was and who was giving me trouble.

Ayame led me away and smiled a knowing smile at me. "So what really happened?" she asked.

I smiled back, a knowing smile, and said, "I tried to be a good little girl but the real Kagome snuck out. I guess I am really good at sneaking out, even from under my own nose."

Ayame smiled but she still asked, "Do they know?"

My smiled wavered but I still answered,

"Yeah. I told them last night." Ayame nodded and looked at me. "I want things to go back to normal. Us doing stupid things and not getting caught."

Ayame smiled and said, "Good. Let me tell you, I was the leader for a month and I wanted to rip my hair out. I never realized how hard it is not to get caught."

"I'm sure you did a wonderful job." I said.

She shook her head. "No way. You are way better then me. But now, everything's back to normal. And you're the leader again."

"Yep, well, as normal as normal can be anyway."

Ayame nodded and a small, comfortable silence, fell over us. "So are they in now too?" Ayame asked, nodding her head towards the others.

"Yeah, I guess they are. They seem to be hitting it off."

Ayame smiled and nodded. "Let's get back over there." She said.

I nodded and walked towards them. "Hey, you mind skipping school?" I asked, knowing that they wouldn't.

"Where we going?" Shippo asked.

"To fix my final mistake." I said. Everyone looked at me confused but I think Ayame knew what I was talking about. She always did.

So we walked off school property and towards my house. As soon as we got there Ayame grabbed my hand as she sensed my hesitation. I smiled warmly over at her and walked up the stairs of the shrine. No body had bought it (thanks to Koga's ghost stories) so it was empty and dirty.

I walked through the house and I told everyone to go into the back yard. As soon as I did that I climbed the stairs. I took deep breaths and walked down the hallway. When I came to the hallway right outside my old room I stopped.

How many times had I re-lived the incident? And now that I was here, again, I felt like I did on that night. I could almost see it happening, hear the sounds, but I shook my head and ran into my room.

As soon as the door clicked shut I looked around and smiled a sad smile. I lived in this room since I was born and now, I wasn't anymore. I could feel tears well up in my eyes but I wouldn't let them fall. I walked around the room, trying to remember how happy I was living in this room.

After a few minutes I walked out and headed towards my parent's room. I opened the door with a shaky hand and looked inside. I didn't walk inside or anything, I knew I'd fall apart, but I stood at the doorway and examined it. The same old room, it was just stripped of it's furniture.

As soon as I memorized the room I walked out and looked back at the hallway. I felt tears run down my face as I smiled a smile that took me a month to realize I could smile.

"I won." I said wiping away my tears and walking away from the hallway…for good.

I walked out of the house and into the backyard where everyone stood waiting. I went to the shed and took out a shovel. I walked back out and saw everyone looking at me curiously.

I saw Ayame smile and I winked at her. I never could hide anything from Ayame.

I walked over to the front of a tree, the biggest tree in the yard, and started to dig. I heard some people start to ask me what I was doing but Ayame shushed them. I dug until I hit something. Then I looked down and sure enough there was a box, just waiting to be dug up.

I reached down into the whole and pulled it up. I opened the box and started to pull out my camera equipment. I smiled as I saw the note I wrote to myself. I didn't open it, I knew what it said, and instead I put it in my pocket and set up the camera.

"Ok, get together." I said, turning around. They looked at each other, confused, but they did what I told them anyway. "Smile!" I said. I gave them a second before pushing the button.

I took more shots, some with me in them, some without me. I stuffed all the equipment back into the box and carried it down the stairs of the shrine.

I felt Inuyasha's arm wrap around my waist, and I smiled. I looked back up at the shrine and smiled. This whole time, I was blaming it on myself when in reality it wasn't my fault. It was just easier to blame it on myself.

I won. I was supposed to die that night. But I didn't. Because of my parent's. If they didn't intercept Onigumo before he got to my room there'd be 3 dead Higurashi's. They knew what they were doing. Protecting their child.

(That night)

I sat at my desk and smiled as I heard the noise below. Aya and Kin weren't going to be home until Monday. They said that it was costing too much to re-book their flight so they'd just fly back when there was sure to be no weather problems.

And everyone was staying the night here. They'd walk to school in the morning and we'd drive. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my note.

_'Dear Kagome, or anyone else that comes across the box. I've buried the box filled with the camera and the equipment because I'm changing my life. And I can't have these things floating around, it'll be too much temptation to go back to the way I was. If some stranger is reading this, it's your lucky day; you just got a free camera and everything you need to develop pictures. I really hope I'm happy in the future. See me in the future.' _

I smiled and slid it into my photo album. I looked up and saw the picture of my parent's again.

My mom's beautiful brown hair flowed down to the middle of her back while dad's black hair barely went past his ears. Mom's yellow shirt, designed with flowers around the hem of the shirt clashed with dad's green shirt. But the smiles on their faces were the same: they were happy!

I remember what I thought. That they were two people who didn't know their fate. Well, I don't think that now. I think they were a happy married couple who didn't know what their fate was, but didn't care. They would worry about that when the time came, until then, they would enjoy life.

"Kagome!" Sango yelled from the bottom of the steps. "Come on you're missing the party!"

"I'm coming!" I yelled, giggling.

I gave the picture I wink and got up and ran down the stairs. I was going to have the time of my life because it was my life.

Ok, well I'm almost done with the story but before I go I'll give you a quick update.

Mrs. Rau was fired because of what she said to me, and because she almost hit me. Yeah totally cool uh? Well it gets better. Apparently she walked off cussing and saying that she was glad to get out of a hell whole like this. So I, Kagome Higurashi, got Mrs. Rau fired from her job that she had for less then a year. Oh yeah, I don't think I mentioned that. She was promoted over the summer and this was supposed to be her first year as principal. Now you'd think I'd scared her from teaching ever again but I didn't. She has a new job. She is now the (proud) principal of 'Panasonic's Juvenile Correction Institute'. (There aren't words to describe how I felt when I heard that. But at least now when she tells a kid that they need therapy she'll probably be right.)

And the new principal(s) is Mrs. Kaede and Mr. Waka. Apparently they both qualified for the position of principal and since they both had classes Mr. Yuga had them both be principals. When one has class the other is in the office. And if they both have classes, then the problem would have to wait. I don't really care though; I don't plan on being in that office ever again. (Oh who am I kidding? I'll be in there Monday morning for doing something.) They had just better hope they don't make me mad. Because if they do then they can kiss their job good bye! (Just kidding! I'm not going to get anyone else fired this year. On purpose, anyway.)

Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango are defiantly in with my friends so it looks like I'm going to have 9 people to look after instead of 6.

Hojo called, wishing me a good morning. And when I got to school there were flowers waiting outside my locker. I guess that's never change. But I'm not going to tell him not to send them. He knows I don't like him so he's just doing this because he's Hojo and I don't want Hojo to change. But I don't want to be the one to tell him I have my eyes on a certain silver-haired-hanyou. (Yep that's right, I fell for him. I, Kagome Higurashi, fell for Inuyasha.)

Oh and everybody has a boyfriend. Ayame and Koga, Sango and Miroku, Ayumi and Shippo, Eri and Toshihru (Ayumi's older brother), and Yuka with Seiigi (Taro's younger brother). So it's just Inuyasha and me that are single. (Which hasn't gone unnoticed by anyone.)

And I felt bad for making Myoga deal with me (even if for only a day) so I went to him and asked him for advice. I made sure to tell him that this was just advice and I just wanted an opinion on what I should name the baby girl I was going to get in Parenting Class (where, believe it or not, Inuyasha is my partner). He looked thrilled that I came to him and told me that I should name the baby Aiko. Inuyasha didn't like the name but I told him too bad and that he could name the next one. He was blushing madly and I started to laugh. Then he started to laugh. Then Aiko, the stupid robot baby that she is, started to cry and wouldn't shut up. We tried changing, feeding, burping, playing, and putting her to sleep but she still cried. So Inuyasha ended up putting her in Miroku's car and leaving it. (What wonderful parent's we'll be one day.)

We stopped at the bookstore after school because I had another list I wanted to drop off. Inuyasha came in with me. Mr. and Mrs. Osaka looked delighted to see me with someone my age. They took the book list and when I apologized for not being by lately they shook their heads and said not to worry about it and that I should be enjoying my life. And as we left they watched us get in the car and I could have sworn I saw tears of joy in Mrs. Osaka's eyes. (Was it really that bad?)

Oh, and if you're wondering, Onigumo was captured before I woke up at the hospital. He was tried and convicted to 3 consecutive life sentences. I wasn't at court so I haven't seen him since the night. Well that's not true. I see, no saw, him every night for the last month.

Oh and remember when I said that hell would freeze over before I did what Sango wanted, well I guess it did.

I haven't been to see my parent's graves since I jumped off the bridge and quite honestly I don't plan on visiting it anytime soon. I'm not going to get anything out of it and neither will they. Because whether I like it or not they're dead and not coming back. The only thing that'll happen is that I'll remember the past that I'm trying to forget. So I'm just going to leave them be.

And tonight we're going to Spades. The first time for me in about a month and a half and the first time ever for Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku. We're meeting everyone outside and we're going to go in at the same time and surprise Taro. I've missed him. I've missed everything.

And now I have to go. My stories' done. Wait! That's not true. My story is just beginning. But this chapter, it's over, for good! It's time for me to move on.

So what have we learned?

1) You'll cry

2) You'll deny

3) You'll try to runaway

4) You'll get caught

5) You'll try to hide

6) You'll face your fears

7) You'll fly

8) The pain will go away

9) You'll accept it

10) You'll move on

That's how you deal. Well that's how I did anyway.

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I really hoped you guys liked this! I've worked on it for 6 months editing, writing, and reading trying to make this the best story ever. Did I do a good job? And yes, sorry, this is only a one-shot. Please review whenever you have a chance and tell me what you thought. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year! Till Next Time...

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